Air duct register



Sept 1, 1959 v R. DERRINGER 2,901,962

lAIR DUCT REGISTER Filed July 22, 1957 INvENToR 5, KAY 17k-lexmark fwd-4 7 g rroRNEY Patented Sept. 1, 1959 AIR DUCT REGISTER g-Ray Derringer,University City, -Mo., assignor to Inter- .natiorial Oil kBurner Co.,amorporation-of Missouri Application July 2-72, Vv1957, "Serial No.673,479:

Claims. (Cl. 98-106) This invention relates broadly to air ductregisters, and more-especially to such registers that are lsoconstructed that the flow ofvair therethrough may be adjustably `controlled.

The invention Vhas among its general objects, the production of arregister of the kind described that -will be neat and attractive inappearance so as to harmonize :with the furnishings for looks .of therooms in which the same may be installed, will`be simple in constructionand operation, sturdy so as to give a long and useful -life withoutrepairs or replacements, economical to make, and will be safe,satisfactory and efficient 4for luse wherever yfound applicable.

One of the principal objects of;my inventionis to so constructsuchadevice that it will 'have a minimum number of parts, and will beadjustablycontrolled ,by hand or foot Vfor varying the passage of airtherethrough.

Another object of the invention is to so construct said device that thesame will have an angularly movable closure plate in connectiontherewith and as apart thereof, said plate being-equally easilymanipulated atall positions ofrplacement of the register and regardlessof 1the `angularity of the plane in which said device is ,arranged formounting.

An added objectofmy invention is `to so construct the mechanism forcontrolling the openingand closing movement-of the closure plate of thedevice, sothat the latter is held safely in all adjusted .positionsuntil a subsequent adjustment is desired.

Manyother objects and advantages of the construction hereinshown anddescribed, and the .uses thereof, will be obvious to Vthose skilledvinithe art to vwhichithis invention appertains, as will be more readilyand clearly seen fnom the vfollowing description.

VInthe drawings, wherein `like reference numerals represent like .orcorresponding parts throughout the views,

Figure `l is a top plan view of the device;

:Figure 2 is a end view of the same, with parts broken away and shown insection, showing the closure plate in closed position;

Figure 3 is'a cross-sectional View of the device, substantially as takenalong the line ,3-.3 of Fig. l; and

Figure 41is another cross-sectional view of the device, taken -.at-rightangles to that shown in Fig. 3, along line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein I have illustrateda .preferred embodiment of my invention, there 'is shown a registeradapted to be mounted at au end of a vent, duct or passageway throughwhich a gas s uch as air, ows, as for instance at the discharge outletfrom a room 'heater or space heater, such Vents or outlets being throughany suitable yWall portion, -as for example through one of the sidewalls or the ceiling, or through the oor.

The mechanism for controlling the passage of air through said vent orduct includes a face member having a face plate 1 that is preferablyslightly larger in area than the outlet end of the duct with which it isto be associated, and in the form shown is of generally rectangularshape with its terminal edges extending suliciently Ybeyond thecorresponding terminal edges that bound the Vduct outlet to permit ofusing screws or the like for fasten- .ing vthe mechanism at said outlet.The wall through which said duct opens may be any preferred angularposition, Vas for instance, -it may -be horizontal, vertical, or .aplane at an angle that is therebetween.

This plate has an elongated opening 2 therethrough, rwhich yin this caseis shown as .being rectangular so as to conform to the `generalcross-sectional shape of the Vduct outlet, and it may have a pluralityof vanes or louvers 3--3 bridging across said opening 2, these louversbeing so spaced apart as to prevent 'household articles or toys lfallingtherethrough, or ,permitting -small or relatively l.sharply pointed shoeheels passing 'between adjacent louvers.

These vanes or louvers may be made integral with said face plate, 4ormay be otherwise constructed and secured thereto, so as to extenddownwardly or rearwardly of the rear face or surface of the face plate.In the instant showing, these louvers are shown as being struck up froma frame 4 tthat is welded or otherwise yfirmly secured to the under orrear surface ofthe face plate. Said frame comprises the base sheet '5from which said louvers are struck to thereby form the substantiallyrectangular opening that is Vsubstantially coextensive in size and shapewith the opening 2, lthis base sheet having ythe pairs of opposedspaced-apart upstanding anges 6 6 and 7-7 extending downwardly Vorrearwardlytherefrom to peripherally surround and bound the openingthrough said base sheet.

A closure vplate 8, also of generally rectangular shape and of a size tosubstantially entirely close the opening delined 'by the bounding wallsof said `frame 4is mounted at the under or rear portion of the frame,and is .hingedly interconnected onand kalong one edge to one of saidupstanding flanges, as by providing longitudinally spacedapart apertures9 through one of the longer. of the upstanding flanges, as for instanceat flange 7, and the adjacent edge ofthe closure plate is provided withcorrespondingly spaced-apart prongs or fingers 10 that tit through saidapertures Vwith a slight lateral clearance so as to enable saidclosureplate to be easily and quickly assembled into operative relation `toVsaid frame by simply placing `said plate with the prongs and apertures-in registry and then shifting said plate so that the prongs passthrough the cooperating apertures. After the plate has been thus mountedit is obvious that the same may be swung about its 'hinged edge to varyvthe angular relationship of the closure plate relative to the frame, sothat the passage of air through said register will be controlledaccording to the degree of said angularity of closing.

A leaf spring, of generally lU-shape having a pair of spaced-apart legs11-11one of which is preferably longer than the other somewhat as shown,is used to spring-load the closure plate and to resi'liently retrieve-it after an opening movement of the closure plate, vsaid spring havingone of its legs asfor instance said longer leg, seouredor anchored atits end y-to the flange 7 of the frame, and the other leg of the springhas its end similarly anchored to said closure plate at a point that isspaced rearwardly v'from the pivotal aXis ofthe plate. The shorter legis yieldably actuated lengthwise toward the bight, and its terminal endanchored to -said closure plate, to thereby Aconstantly urge and biaslthehinged edge ofthe -latter toward the flange 7 to hold the plate inits pivotally mounted position. Obviously, opening of said plateyieldably spreads the spring legs apart, so that upon release of themeans holding said plate open, the spring retrieves to its normalpoistion and pulling said plate to closed position.

tion and operation in all positions of the said plate, I have movably-mounted a cam 12 to `said-face plate, said cam having a tapered orwedge-shaped edge 13 that extends longitudinally therealong in adirection that is transverse to or across the length of the spring andengaging that leg of the latter that is anchored to said ange 7. Thus,the spring is fulcrumed at said ilange 7 and has a lever arm whoselength is that of the distance between said fulcrum axis and the planeof said wedge-shaped edge of the cam.

Obviously, with both ends of the spring anchored as hereinbeforementioned, shifting or the element 12 in one direction of itsreciprocatory travel will cause the wedge-shaped edge to exertincreasing pressure on the spring to swing the latter from its positionshown in full lines in Figs. 3 and 4 to that shown in dotted linestherein, transmitting `said pressure to said closure plate to swing thelatter in unison with said spring. Release of said pressure, by shiftingthe control means in the reverse direction will permit the closure plateto be urged toward its closed position by the retrieving action of thespring, and will hold said closure plate at the desired position ofadjustment.

In order to provide for easy manipulation of said control element, thesame may be provided with a stem 14 that projects through a slot 16formed lengthwise through a portion of said face plate. A knob or button15 may be lixed at the exposed end of said stem for convenientmanipulation of said control element by using the hand or the foot ofthe user.

When this knob or button is 'shifted in one direction, by hand or foot,as found most convenient at the time, the wedge-shaped edge of thecontrol element increasingly actuates the spring to adjustably increasethe angular disposition of the closure plate to correspondingly increasethe air flow outwardly through the register, and when the control memberis shifted in the reverse direction, the camming pressure on the springis correspondingly decreased to permit the spring to yieldably retrievethe closure plate toward its closed position. In this way, the closureplate may be shifted to be fully open, fully shut, or to anyintermediate position that controls air iiow through the duct, and thisclosure plate will be yieldably held in all of such spring-loadedadjusted positions, without danger of the plate accidentally shiftingfrom said set positions of adjustment, through vibration or othercauses.

I claim:

1. lIn an air duct register, a face member adapted to cover an end ofsaid duct and is provided with an opening therethrough, a closure platepivotally hinged along one edge to the rear of said face member and ismovable to adjustably angular positions relative-to said face member forclosing said opening, a bowed spring with opposed legs, the end of oneof said legs connected to said face member and the end of its other legconnected to said plate so that said legs resiliently spread apartthrough opening movement of said plate to retrievably urge the latter toits closed position, and a control element movably mounted on andcarried by said member and engaging a spring leg to yieldably adjustablymove the latter to transmit movement to the plate to desired angularlydisposed positions.

2. In an air duct register, a face member adapted to cover said duct andis provided with an opening, a closure plate hinged to the rear of saidface member to be moved ber to close said opening, a substantiallyU-shaped spring having its leg ends connected to said face member andplate respectively so that opening movement of said plate resilientlyspreads said spring legs apart to normally urge said plate toward itsclosed position, and a control element shiftably slidably carried onsaid face member and engaging one of said spring legs to movablyyieldably actu-ate said plate-to any desired angular disposition.

3. In an air duct register, a face member adapted to cover said duct andis provided with an opening therethrough, a closure plate hinged alongone edge to the rear of said face member, a substantially U-shaped leafspring having its leg ends anchored to adjacent portions of said facemember and plate so that opening movement of the latter is resilientlyresisted by said spring, a slot through said face member, and a controlelement carried by said face member and reciprocally movable in saidslot and having Ia wedge-shaped edge slidably engageable with saidspring to resiliently spread said legs apart to transmit force to saidplate to adjustably move and hold the latter to any desired angulardisposition.

4. In an air duct register, a face member adapted to cover said duct andhaving an opening therethrough, a clos-ure plate hinged along one of itsedges to the rear of said lface member, a U-shaped leaf spring havingits leg ends anchored to adjacent portions of said face member and plateand having its legs resiliently spread apart through opening movement ofsaid plate, an elongated slot through a portion of said face member thatis spaced from said opening, and a control element carried by said facemember and longitudinally movable in said slot and having a wedge-shapededge slidably engaging said spring to adjustably cam the latter toforcibly move said plate against the resisting spring tension to anydesired angular disposition. 5. In an air duct register, a face memberadapted t cover said duct and provided with an elongated openingtherethrough, a flange element extending rearwardly from said facemember and peripherally surrounding the opening to form a frame, aclosure plate element at the rear of said ange element, one of saidafore-mentioned elements having spaced-apart aligned aperturestherethrough and -said other element having prongs along one edgeinserted through said apertures to hinge said plate element to saidllange element to permit swinging of said plate element about said oneedge, a substantially U-shaped spring extending transversely across saidface member opening and having one leg connected to said face member andhaving its other leg connected to said closure plate at a point spacedrearwardly of said one edge, one leg of said spring constantly urgingsaid closure plate toward said face member to urge said prongsi v ablewith one of ysaid spring legs to transmit force to the to adjustablyangular positions relative to said face memlatter and control separationof said legs on slidable movement of said control to `adjustablyyieldably move said closure plate element to any desired angular dis-Brumbaugh Dec. 28, 1954 Riebel June 5, 1955

